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Kurenai Kagemaru
|history= They called themselves "The Blade Mikos" Shinto shine maidens who took up sacred and hidden styles of martial arts, dedicated to hunting down and rooting out chaos and disorder, especially of the demonic variety. For centuries, they took in orphaned daughters, gave them personal names based on color, and the same familial name, trained them up, subjecting them to a rigorous, even grueling training; not all would make the final cut, and thus, even at the height of their influence and power, only a handful of Blade Miko's emerged in every generation. Their fortunes waxed and waned over the ages, reaching it's final ascendancy during the Edo period, under the Tokugawa Shogunate. Few who remember the Blade Mikos believe that their order died out in the mid 1800's, that Midori Kagemaru was the last of their kind, having met her fate at the Battle of Hakodate, the final conflict of the Boshin War, where the old ways gave in at last to the oncoming tide that was the Meiji Restoration. Fewer still are aware that the last Blade Miko temple still stands, a few miles outside of Noboribetsu, deep in the mountainous wilds. The Order very nearly did die out, until the Japanese Government "rediscovered" it in late 1963. With a renewed interest in cultivating it's own metahuman resources, primarily to fill the ranks of it's Defense Forces, the Japanese Diet quietly authorized a small series on ongoing payments to the Temple Mothers of the Order, preserving the Blade Mikos from true extinction. For the most part, the Temple was left alone...every so often, men from the Government would come and select she who was deemed "the finest" the current generation, and she would go off to serve. Beyond that it was a seemingly idyllic life, despite the hard work and dedication required, in a surprisingly feminist atmosphere, as no men were allowed to serve in any capacity in the Temple itself. In 1997, a baby girl, orphaned by a car crash, with no immediate family to her name, was brought to the Temple, and offered up to be raised by the Order. The name "Kurenai", having recently become available, was assigned to her, and training began in earnest when she was old enough. Beginning first with practices to cultivate patience and focus, then moving on to martial arts, especially kenjutsu and iaijutsu. Finally, having demonstrated the focus, dedication and drive to advance to the next rank, a ten-year old Kurenai was allowed to study the secrets of Kihaku-Kenjutsu, the mysteries of the Spirit Blade Warfare. In mid 2013, the Ministry of Suprahuman Affairs finally paid a visit to the Temple, asking the Mothers to select a new recruit to be taken away to help keep the peace in Japan. A contest was held, and while Kurenai was not the immediate favorite as she was the youngest of those in competition, she managed to ultimately best out the other five fully qualified Blade Mikos. Soon afterwards, a more liberal government gained control of the Diet, and the new Prime Minister decided to begin farming out local metahumans to participate in student exchanges. Kurenai was selected to head to the Eastern Coast of the United States, although many of the more conservative elements objected, due to how socially isolated she had been during her childhood. The more liberal faction won out, beliving that living in America would be exactly the thing to bring her up to speeed, and a deal was struck with Emma Frost and her Academy of Tomorrow, to bring Kurenai up to her full potential. (But fish out of water does not even begin to describe poor Kurenai's situation starting out) }} Category:OC Category:Hero Category:Registered-Real-Name Category:Character